Heaven’s Coat of Arms

I have a mat in my room that has the drawing of the coat of arms of Kenya, my country. It’s the first thing that I step onto every day when I get out of bed. I had always seen it as any other mat then one day as I stepped onto it, I got to take a close look and asked myself, “what if Heaven had its own coat of arms, how would it look? What would be its symbols? I did my history a long time ago, and I knew what a coat of arms was, but I just never paid any attention to the details on the image. What then is a coat of arms? It’s a heraldic visual design on a shield. It forms the central elements to which the bearer of a coat of arms is entitled – this means what they stand for and believe in. A coat of arms is unique to the individual, family, state, organization, schools, or corporations, and this means that each coat of arms associated or linked to can be easily traced to identify a person, family, or country. It comprises of a shield, supporters, a crest, and a motto. 

The coat of arms of Kenya features two lions holding spears onto an African shield. The lions here symbolize protection, the shield and spears symbolize unity and defense in freedom. The shield also contains the national colors of Kenya, black for the people, red for the blood that was shed during the struggle for freedom, green for the land and white for peace and unity. On top of the shield is a rooster holding an axe while moving forward symbolizing authority the will to work, success and the break of a new dawn. The rooster is also the symbol of KANU, a political party that led the country into independence. The shield and lions stand on a silhouette of Mount Kenya, and it has a motto written in Swahili ‘Harambee,’ which means ‘coming together’ or ‘all for one.’ The drawing may seem simple to someone, but when you get into the details then you realize that the people who came together and came up with the coat of arms were into the finer details. This simple image has been the symbol that identifies my country Kenya from the rest of the world and it’s the same for every country, each coat of arms has a deeper meaning as to why they used this animal or this symbol, it tells a story.

As I looked onto the image, it got me thinking, if Heaven had its own coat of arms, what would it be? How would it look? What would be its symbols and how would the shield look like? what would be the motto? Well let’s imagine together shall we?

The Shield – God. From the beginning of time God has been the protector of His people and He has shielded them from evil and we see this all through the Bible. When the Israelites left Egypt and were on their way into the promised land, it says in Exodus 13:21-22, “The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud and He provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.” 

Back in the medieval times when there were wars, people fought with swords and shielded themselves using shields. The shield protected them from arrows of the enemy, and this is exactly who God is towards us, He is our shield. God has protected us and shielded us from attacks of the enemy. We may not see into the spiritual but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. That time you left the house late and you kept cursing all the way, only to find a nasty accident, that you just missed, that was God shielding you. When you were sick and the doctors couldn’t find a cure, but God healed you to the doctors disbelief? God has been protecting us from evil that we don’t even get to see – He is our shield.

The Bible sums this up with many verses mentioning who God is for His people. Psalms 28:7 “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and He helps me.” Psalms 18:2 “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation.” Psalms 91:4 “He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; and His Faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” 2^nd Samuel 22:3 “My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation.” Finally Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:16 to take up the shield of faith, with which we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 

Supporters – In the coat of arms, the supporters are images that seem to support the shield. Different countries have put animals that symbolize power and dominance like the Bear, Eagle, Tiger, Lion, and many others. My imagination would say that on the sides of shield, the Lion and the Lamb would be the image to put there, why? Jesus is described as the ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah.’ The Lion is the king of the jungle, it’s an animal with vast power and strength and this is who God is, our source of strength and defense. No animal dares to go against the lion, they know it would be their end! Well, no one can dare stand before God in battle, they wouldn’t even win, He is king and Lord over all. He is also the Lamb that was slayed for the sake of the world. He is the One who united us back to our Heavenly Father by dying on the cross. The lamb is gentle animal, and this is why Jesus is referred to as the Lamb He is kind, pure and without sin and because of His shedding of blood, you and I are made righteous before God.  The Lion and The Lamb represent power, authority, gentleness and purity. 

Revelation 5:5 “Do not weep, see the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Isaiah 11:6 “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together and a little child will lead them.” 

Crest – The crest is the image placed on top of the shield, it’s the crown jewel and I believe in this instance, The Cross is this jewel. The cross signifies what God did for us, sending his own Beloved Son to die on behalf of mankind. Romans 5:6 “at just the right time, when we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” Why might you ask? Adam, the first man sinned against God and when He did, sin entered the world and it brought its own share of repercussions one of them being death being passed onto all men, we all became sinners. But that didn’t mean that our situation was hopeless, no it didn’t and Romans 5:18 brings this all too well, “yes Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.” Christ’s obedience to God is symbolized by the CROSS. The Cross is the symbol that shows our salvation and restoration, it reminds us of outpouring of His blood for us to have eternal life. 

Motto – Heaven’s motto has always been LOVE. God is love and He showed us this when He sent His One and Only Son to die on the cross, if this isn’t love, I don’t know what is. Therefore, everything that represents Heaven’s coat of arms stands on a silhouette that is LOVE. 1 John 4:16 … “We have known and have believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them.”.

I am not certain that Heaven has its own coat of arms because, Heaven doesn’t constitute its business as earth does. Heaven is where God is and the things that I would imagine with my mind cannot even come close to comprehend what it actually is – Heaven is beautiful. The Bible describes that there is a Throne in Heaven, and someone (God) is sitting on it (Rev 4:2). The one sitting on the Throne is described as brilliant as gemstones – like Jasper and Carnelian and the glow of an Emerald circled His Throne like a rainbow. Twenty-four thrones surrounded Him and twenty-four elders all dressed in white and gold crowns on their heads sat on them (Rev 4:3-4). 

The Bible shows us many things among them signs, symbols, it mentions numbers that have been repeated, and even animals. It speaks of God’s message, His love for us, His future plans and it calls for us to receive wisdom from Him in order for us to decipher all what He is saying.

His greatest personality traits have been Love & Faithfulness from the beginning of time to Abraham, Moses, king David, the prophets, Jesus, Apostles and now us. What we need to do on our part is receive this love by accepting His Son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior so that when we get to Heaven, we wouldn’t need to speculate on how the coat of arms of Heaven looks like, because we will see it with our own two eyes.

Blessings!!